Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust website.

This website is run by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. As a healthcare organisation, we understand how important it is for our patients and the people who care for them to easily access, perceive and understand the information they need. We are committed to making sure as many people as possible are able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
• zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen and without content being truncated or overlapping
• navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA, Voiceover and Talkback)

We follow best practices and evidence-based guidance such as the NHS content style guide to make the wording on our website as simple to understand as possible, and continue to review our content so it’s written in plain English.

There is advice available online to help you make your device easier to use if you have a disability, including from the AbilityNet charity.

How accessible this website is

Testing shows that our web pages are accessible. Some web pages link to documents, mainly in PDF format, which are not always fully accessible to screen reader software.

The website was completely redeveloped in May 2022 and all the previous accessibility issues were addressed in the new design, and considering the following.

• 1 in 4 people have a disability, so our new site is designed to allow everyone to access the information they need.
• We have worked with people with disabilities to design and test our new site to make it as accessible as possible regardless of background, ability or needs. This was not as an afterthought, but as the main driver behind how it looks and works.
• There are fewer words and a reduced number of PDFs to comply with legal requirements on accessibility. Since 2020, we have removed more than 80% of the PDFs from the website or converted them to HTML. PDFs are used only where the information is statutory or complex and cannot be converted to webpages.
• The improved print function includes a bespoke design and layout, a large font size option, references for linked content, and the ability to print a range of pages within a section using page titles for reference .
• We follow the web content accessibility guidelines, and except for the documents mentioned, the website fully conforms to WCAG 2.1 level AA standards, making our content more accessible for people with additional needs, including neurodivergent and disabled people.
• We have tested our site extensively, both with users on different browsers and devices and through an independent accessibility testing partner to ensure we meet required standards.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read or Braille, please contact us.

We will consider your request and reply to you within 5 working days.

If you cannot view our maps to find your way around our hospitals, contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) for directions.

Language support

We provide interpreting and translation services through the language support department. This can be in the form of face-to-face, video or telephone.

If you need an interpreter, or information about the care you are receiving in the language or format of your choice, please contact the service providing your medical care. You can also contact the language support service by emailing [email protected].

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you find any problems which aren't listed on this page, please email us to let us know.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you contact us with a complaint about the accessibility of our website and you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• We are aware that, when text is resized or the page is zoomed, some links in the main navigation may disappear. We are currently in the process of updating the main navigation to ensure that all links remain accessible across different screen sizes and devices. This will be fixed by the end of Jan 2025.
• This website contains approximately 300 documents, mainly in PDF format, some of which are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
• Around 100 of these PDF documents are wayfinding maps and cannot be converted to HTML pages. Our users tell us these maps are useful for finding their way within our hospitals and community sites. They will remain available while we find a digital wayfinding solution.
• Several pages contain an embedded YouTube video player. Some of the media player controls and focus indicators do not have sufficient colour contrast against the background colour. This will be fixed by the end of April 2025. WCAG 2.1 SC 1.4.3 (Colour Contrast)
• 4 videos contain important visual information that is not in the audio track. We are considering how we can create audio described versions of the videos. This will be fixed by the end of April 2025. WCAG 2.1 SC 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-recorded)) and WCAG 2.1 SC 1.2.5 (Audio Description (Pre-recorded))

Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

• We plan to keep some of the documents that were uploaded before 23 September 2018 and are not essential to our services. These are statutory documents and declarations.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

• We're updating the website navigation to allow navigation sections to be expanded to reveal further sub-links on small screens thereby ensuring that all links remain accessible across different screen sizes and devices.The fix will be implemented on all pages of the website.
• We’re working to remove documents that aren't needed as soon as possible. Where information is still required, we plan to republish it in HTML format.
• There are some documents designed for printing. These include our annual reports and The GiST magazine. We'll continue to offer these as PDFs together with a HTML page that includes a summary of the document.
• We use online tools to perform a readability test and carry out basic accessibility checks when uploading new content to the website. We regularly commission an independent accessibility audit on a sample of pages to highlight areas requiring improvement. Our aim is to conduct accessibility audits every year.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 14 November 2024. It was last reviewed on 14 November 2024.

This website was last tested on 28 May 2023. The test was carried out by Test Partners Ltd.

We followed GOV.UK guidance on deciding how to check the website as follows:

1. We used an automated website mapping tool to identify all the pages on the website.
2. Pages from across the website were grouped together by type.
3. We manually assessed a number of pages from each group to determine the level of consistency within the group and the type of content on those pages.
4. We manually assessed all the ‘unique’ pages such as the home page and Contact Us to determine the type of content on those pages.
5. We identified a minimum representative subset of pages that contain examples of the most common layouts, components and features, including:
   1. the header and footer
   2. important ‘unique pages’
   3. pages with text content and data tables
   4. pages with informational images, images of text and video content
   5. components such as “cards”, breadcrumbs, pagination links and information banners
   6. interactive elements such as forms, accordions, content filtering and sorting and embedded video
6. We conducted a manual WCAG audit on the representative subset of pages.
7. We conducted 2 rounds of fixing and retesting, such that most WCAG non-conformances have been fixed.

We also aim to regularly do an annual audit of our content, design and code.

Contact us

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 020 7188 5577